It's true. If you smile at a stranger here, that automatically a whore. I've been repeatedly slapped because the person I smiled at was like old people, or little kids. It's a sickening state of living.
On another note, last night, I ate one of the specialty plates of Provence called, Quenolt (yea, it does look like Quizno). It's basically a giant sausage stuffed with grind pork meat, but here's the kick: it's completely black and ironically & phalically shaped. So basically last night, my host mom fed me a black dildo. It was delicious.
The city plan of Aix is extremely confusing (or as Historical Urbanism in my Architecture class), as evident by the increasing frequency of my complete lost-ness. I started my volunteer work yesteday as well. I tutored immigrant French kids in English; Irony seems to follow me everywhere (context: I was in ESL 8 years ago and now I'm teaching English). It's actually very pedagogic for me because I learned about the proposition infinitives (I had no idea that even existed) along with the kids.
Furthermore, I am joining an Aikido club here in France; it's really funny hearing Japanese spoken with a French accent. Apparently, French people are innately repressing their anger because Aikido here is definitely NOT non-conflictual. It's actually more violent than a lot of other martial arts that I practiced. The super old ladies have no problem kicking you when you just fall down btw. On a side note of kicking old ladies, aged citizens of France (literally in their 60's, 70's and even 80's) will wear high heels and will strut that shit like no tomorrow.
Hope you all are doing well as I am attempting to penetrate the core of French society.
jeudi 25 septembre 2008
dimanche 14 septembre 2008
Partir là-bas
Yes. That is the tittle of the song in the Little Mermaid.
As strange as this may seem, it is getting harder and harder to think in English than in French. When I am typing this message, I am making so many mistakes because of a) the stupid French keyboard, b) I cannot even think of the spelling in English. My family is nice, but they seem alienable to me. We do not do the bises, or cheek-suck (as it will now be called forever by me), in the family. They think they are a little bit taken back by the sheer mass that I consume everyday because we actually finish everything that the host-mom cooked. If that's even possible, I am more hungry here because of the "walking every freaking where"; I think I average about 15 km daily. I had a little taste of the French clubbing experience this weekend. I went to a total of 7 bars, 4 night clubs and 200 thousand cafés. Apparentlly, all the young people in this town are emo and sexually active bandpeople that can dance and dress really well because
they begin to GO to the club at 1:00 AM and return around 4:00 AM and have breakfast with the parents.
It is quite funny because I feel like I am just making out with everyone I see. I think this one time will top it all. A guy tried to do the cheek-suck with me (yes guys on guys= normal in France), and it was fine except for one tiny fact: his mouth/lips/teeth were more moist than I was expecting, so it felt like he licked my face. I have to be careful because a lot of times, I just kinda slam my face against other people's face to avoid actually touching their face with my flagrantly squalid mouth (a French girl told me that "you do it too hard," and I had to hold back the "that's what she said" thing).
To say the least, I miss you guys a lot (this evanescent feeling will pass very soon, so no sappy crap). French people are just plain better looking than their American counterpart; it's a fact that I have come to accept and embrace. However, they are actually shorter than the giant Iowans I'm used to seeing, so I feel a bit more justified. Btw, I lost 12 pounds already, so France is just slapping across the face with its overabundance consumption of dairy and carbs. I have never ingested so much calcium in my life, so I think my bones will be in great shape upon returning.
My Address:
Adrian Jacques Nguyen
American University Center of Provence
Head Admissions Office
19, cours des Arts-et-Métiers
13100 Aix-en-Provence (France)
ps. my host brother is actually 27 years-old, and apparently is a man-slut. But of course, in France, it is expected that the youngs "explore" their sexuality as much as possible. Aka French girls are really skanky. French men are even skankier if that's even feasible. That's France for you, Skank Central (btw, it's also the most fertile country in Europe).
LOVE,
Jacques
As strange as this may seem, it is getting harder and harder to think in English than in French. When I am typing this message, I am making so many mistakes because of a) the stupid French keyboard, b) I cannot even think of the spelling in English. My family is nice, but they seem alienable to me. We do not do the bises, or cheek-suck (as it will now be called forever by me), in the family. They think they are a little bit taken back by the sheer mass that I consume everyday because we actually finish everything that the host-mom cooked. If that's even possible, I am more hungry here because of the "walking every freaking where"; I think I average about 15 km daily. I had a little taste of the French clubbing experience this weekend. I went to a total of 7 bars, 4 night clubs and 200 thousand cafés. Apparentlly, all the young people in this town are emo and sexually active bandpeople that can dance and dress really well because
they begin to GO to the club at 1:00 AM and return around 4:00 AM and have breakfast with the parents.
It is quite funny because I feel like I am just making out with everyone I see. I think this one time will top it all. A guy tried to do the cheek-suck with me (yes guys on guys= normal in France), and it was fine except for one tiny fact: his mouth/lips/teeth were more moist than I was expecting, so it felt like he licked my face. I have to be careful because a lot of times, I just kinda slam my face against other people's face to avoid actually touching their face with my flagrantly squalid mouth (a French girl told me that "you do it too hard," and I had to hold back the "that's what she said" thing).
To say the least, I miss you guys a lot (this evanescent feeling will pass very soon, so no sappy crap). French people are just plain better looking than their American counterpart; it's a fact that I have come to accept and embrace. However, they are actually shorter than the giant Iowans I'm used to seeing, so I feel a bit more justified. Btw, I lost 12 pounds already, so France is just slapping across the face with its overabundance consumption of dairy and carbs. I have never ingested so much calcium in my life, so I think my bones will be in great shape upon returning.
My Address:
Adrian Jacques Nguyen
American University Center of Provence
Head Admissions Office
19, cours des Arts-et-Métiers
13100 Aix-en-Provence (France)
ps. my host brother is actually 27 years-old, and apparently is a man-slut. But of course, in France, it is expected that the youngs "explore" their sexuality as much as possible. Aka French girls are really skanky. French men are even skankier if that's even feasible. That's France for you, Skank Central (btw, it's also the most fertile country in Europe).
LOVE,
Jacques
samedi 6 septembre 2008
le premier jour de la reste de ma vie
I am alive. Barely. Not sleeping for 30 hours and counting sucks. I cannot believe that sleeping pill did not work (Diphenhydramine HCl can suck it). My host family is nice but stern. They have a balcony overlooking the Mt. Victoire and the country side, which was where I had my first snack-meal of potato chips and deviled eggs that lasted THREE HOURS. I am learning to eat at a glacial pace, which was extremely difficult as the last thing I ate within 24 hours was a cube of cheese neatly smashed against a piece of stale bread. The sweet thing is my room is on the ground level, so I get a paranoma view of this sweet sweet landscap.
I must admit; it is rather intimidating being this land of native French speakers. I could barely keep up with their conversations, which bounced from an architecturally desecrated landscape of the Southern France, to rising housing costs, American election (guess whom they like-- yes, it's whom), and of course, how nice weather in Hawaii is.
Btw, my host brother should quit his job and doubles as David Beckham, because he IS him. *cough* he's 21, French, and is David Beckham *cough* for my overabunding female friends. AND is named Maxime, like the magazine sans the "e." I'm officially the baby of the house because all of their children (they have 3 boys and 1 girl) are all majorly old.
Lastly, I miss you all beyond belief. But I do have your cheery faces staring back at me right now from behind framed glass surface, so that will do until later.
Love,
THE Jacques
ps. haha. Pervie should try to figure out this title.
I must admit; it is rather intimidating being this land of native French speakers. I could barely keep up with their conversations, which bounced from an architecturally desecrated landscape of the Southern France, to rising housing costs, American election (guess whom they like-- yes, it's whom), and of course, how nice weather in Hawaii is.
Btw, my host brother should quit his job and doubles as David Beckham, because he IS him. *cough* he's 21, French, and is David Beckham *cough* for my overabunding female friends. AND is named Maxime, like the magazine sans the "e." I'm officially the baby of the house because all of their children (they have 3 boys and 1 girl) are all majorly old.
Lastly, I miss you all beyond belief. But I do have your cheery faces staring back at me right now from behind framed glass surface, so that will do until later.
Love,
THE Jacques
ps. haha. Pervie should try to figure out this title.
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